Madrid – Jose Mourinho ended his three-year reign as Real Madrid coach with a 4-2 win over Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday in a match where he was cheered and whistled in equal measure by a two-thirds full Bernabeu.
The 50-year-old has agreed by mutual consent to leave the team, despite having three years left on his contract, and is widely expected to return to his former club Chelsea.
Gonzalo Higuain, captaining a side missing a number of first-team regulars, opened the scoring after 35 minutes when he spun away from his marker and advanced to fire in Real's 100th goal of the campaign.
It is the fourth year in a row the nine-times European champions have reached that landmark.
Three minutes later on-loan Michael Essien nodded in a corner and ran across to dedicate the goal to Mourinho who brought him to Madrid from Chelsea.
Osasuna, like Real with nothing left to play for, pulled one back early in the second half with a raking low shot from Roberto Torres and Alvaro Cejudo headed an equaliser soon after.
A superb piece of skill by Mesut Ozil set up Karim Benzema for Real's third before Jose Callejon wrapped up the scoring in the 87th minute.
Real finish the season in second place with 85 points from 38 games, 12 short of champions Barcelona who have the chance to match their record 100-point haul from last season when they host Malaga at the Nou Camp later in the evening. – Reuters